The Surface Navy is the backbone of America’s Navy and the most capable surface force in the world. Since 13 October 1775, the men, and then later women, of the Surface Navy have deployed around the globe. 

Beginning with the six original wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigates, of which USS Constitution remains, the surface Navy has utilized a myriad of platforms with propulsion from sails to nuclear power. During the War of 1812, ships of sail, such as frigates, brigs, sloops, and schooners, comprised the U.S. Navy’s first fleet. During the Civil War, the U.S. used primarily sail, but began to experiment with ironclads that were steam propelled. In the 1890s, the “New Navy” transitioned to the building of America’s first cruisers and battleships that used steam as the main source of power. Aircraft carriers took the lead during World War II with battleships used primarily in the bombardment of islands scheduled for amphibious landings. During the 1950s, the development of nuclear-powered ships took prominence. The Vietnam War saw the emergence of the “brown-water navy” that consisted of small gunboats to patrol rivers and waterways. The modern fleet of today consists of nuclear-powered ships and the first electric warships.  

*****

• Age of Sail
• Sail to Steam Propulsion
• Modern Surface Warfare

• Navigation, Seamanship, and Signals
• Asa Curtis Personal Rules Log
• “Training Ships”
• History of Ship Bells infographic
• Return to Homeport infographic
• Nautical Terms Part 1 infographic
• Nautical Terms Part 2 infographic
• Tending the Side infographic

• Oral History: Sonarman 1st Class Jack Gebhardt
• Antiaircraft Action Summary: World War II

• H-Gram 005-5 100th Anniversary of WWI: Initial U.S. Navy Combat Operations
• H-Gram 020-1: The Fog of War: USS Vincennes Tragedy—3 July 1988
• Mine Warfare
• Gleaves’ Convoy Formation
• Surface Lessons of Guadalcanal
• “The Landings in the Solomons”
• War Damage Reports
• United States Atlantic Fleet Organization—1942
• United States Pacific Fleet Organization: 1 May 1945
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• “By Sea, Air and Land”—Chapter 3: The Years of Combat, 1965–1968
• Grenada: Operation Urgent Fury
• Desert Storm U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Operations
• Desert Shield/Desert Storm: Lessons Learned and Summary
• Desert Shield/Desert Storm: Beans, Bandages, Bullets—Logistics Operations
• Desert Shield/Desert Storm: The Role of the Navy
• Desert Shield/Desert Storm: “Thunder and Lightning”—The War with Iraq 

• Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division
• Carderock Division, Naval Surface Warfare
• Evolution of Power infographic
• The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet
• U.S. Ship Force Levels: 1886–present
• Christening, Launching and Commissioning of U.S. Navy Ships
• A Century of Replenishment at Sea
• Navy Shipboard Lasers for Surface, Air, and Missile Defense
• Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Hypervelocity Projectile
• A Sampling of U.S. Naval Humanitarian Operations
• Ship Abbreviations and Symbols
• “Forward… From the Start” The Navy & Homeland Defense: 1775–2003

• World War I
• The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842
• America’s Naval Heritage: A Catalog of Early Imprints
• Amphibious Operations
• The Invasion of Normandy
• Alaska During the Pacific War
• The Vietnam Experience
• The Gulf War 1990–1991